Restore Rebuild Revive - Week Ten :30 Mar 2011

Martin Luther, “The essence of sin is that man seeks his own in everything, even in God.”

As we looked this week at the idea of dedication, I had to ask myself the questions, Do I live like God has set me apart for His use, or rather than the Lord is set apart for my use?

1999 bestseller, Cat ‘n Dog Theology: Rethinking your relationship to the Master. There is a joke about cats and dogs that conveys their differences perfectly—A dog says, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be God.” A cat says, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”

Cat ‘n Dog Theology, by Bob Sjogren an Gerald Robison is a humor filled, scripture based way of communicating the need for Christians to re-think their relationship to God.   Not recommending.

The Israelites in Neh day have much more than a humorous Scripture based book to evaluate their relationship to God, they have had a living encounter-many- with Him. In response to their repentance, He has brought them back from captivity and restored them to His Holy City. He has united them as His beloved people, using them to restore and rebuilt His Holy city that was in trouble and shame-broken down and its gates destroyed by fire (52 days!) -In just 52 days, no less, shaking Israel’s enemies to their core. Then Lord God washed them with His Word reviving their hearts, bodies and souls.

With such living encounters with the covenant God, His touch, His feeding, His shelter, His love, the people could have assumed they were god. “OK, God, thanks for the city-we’ll take it from here.” But what we see in Neh 12 is that their response to all He has done is to say, loudly, so that they are heard far away, “You Must Be God.”

The Israelites get that the restoration, rebuilding and revival they have been experiencing is not about them., but about God’s glory revealed to the nations.

J.G. McConville, “When the people march on the walls to the Temple they do so after having placed the temple once again at the center of their thoughts The walls thus appear for what they are: not a monument to the strength of Judah—heaven forbid!—but God’s gift for the protection and perpetuation of his name in the world.”